Babylon Crumbling
by Azalee
Summary: Very AU - No human goal can ever attain perfection ; what is meant to be a perfect metropolis develops its very own special endemic infection and the children that survive it are hunted for being contagious. Slowly, God's pawns are gathering. :Hiatus:
1. prologue : genesis

**Genre :** Alternate Universe, of the sorta futuristic, sorta-postapocalyptic kind. (No mecha though, promise.)

**Warnings :** Disturbing stuff, Spiral-style. That means there (probably) won't be _gore_, but still some disturbing concepts. (Killer kids, hel_lo_.) Probably borderline incest-ish and shounen-ai-ish hints, because of some characters' canon relationships. And bastardry because of some characters's canon behavior.  
Oh, and kittens.

**Progress :** Story pretty much laid out and planned, I just need to make it _work_ and hope it agrees to go the way I want it to (it's forced me to change things a few times already). That makes the prologue _very_ subject to changes, although I tried to leave myself some leeway.

**Characters :** Any you can think of, pretty much. I'm most likely going to change the characters filters every once in a while just for the hell of it. Some might have their personalities slightly altered, for universe-related reasons.  
Of course, I'm not saying_ every single one_ character who was ever mentioned and/or got a line in Spiral will be in here.  
But I'll make sure it's pretty damn close.

**Pairings :** Not really ; canon and virtually-canon ones are hinted at and that's it, really. I _will_ be messing a lot with relationships of all kinds though. _(grins)_

**Disclaimer :** Characters and their personalities (the ones I don't mess with too much), names, concepts and stuff are Shirodaira Kyou's and Mizuno Eita's. Apart from that, the plot itself and all the insanity ensuing are miiine~

**Dedication to :** You, because your reading this means more to me than I can put into words ; Adina, because my e-wifey doth rock that hard, her beta-ing is wonderfully helpful and her fangirlism over this makes me fangirl ; and Skunky, because our oh-so-OTP chivalrous courtship makes me crack up and she loves to mess up with characters, too. (And I am totally not cheating on either of them with the other, I swear, no kicking please !)

**Last words :** This little thing is my monster-baby. I've put a lot of time, research and thought in it, but in the event that something just _doesn't make sense_ to you, be it a plot point or a poorly phrased sentence, please ring the bell ! Constructive criticism is just as welcome as mindless squealing (meaning _a lot_).

And now I'll let you go and start reading, and **hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

Second half of the twenty-first century : experimental 'perfect' metropolis Eden is built in Japan, in the most isolated area found.

Its inhabitants are carefully selected. Only healthy, intelligent and socially capable people, particularly talented in at least one area and with a clean criminal record are allowed in. A good half of these people are stable couples, some of them with children which have passed the tests as well ; the others are encouraged to find a partner and produce the first progeny of Eden. A good part of them are Japanese, but there is also a significant amount of foreigners come from virtually all over the world, provided they speak at least English or Japanese. The diversity of backgrounds and talents is enough to get the whole city to work on its own after a while, and the outsiders who came to help in the beginning quickly become useless.

With free water, gas, electricity and wireless signal over the entire area and the best means to reduce the production of pollutive substances, Eden is to be a model of a perfect city. It is divided into districts, supposedly for strictly administrative reasons but the first few years are enough to give each district its own look, its own life, and the distinctions become evident. For example, district number 5 is the closest one to the fields and greenhouses that surround the town, and it shows in the rural way of living of its inhabitants ; it is not unusual to see a cow cross the street among the electric cars. District 13 has huge public TV-screens in every street, loud music comes out of every shop and at night, it glows with hundreds and hundreds of brightly colored neon lights. District 19 is the place with all the labs ; no one really knows what all of them do.

No one really knows who first organized or funded this huge project, either.

---

In 2080, Eden counts over 2,000,000 inhabitants.

In 2083, the population has dropped to one percent of that number.

---

You may call 2082 the Armageddon Year, or the Year of Divine Judgment, whichever suits your taste best.

Though Asazuki Kousuke just calls it the Shitty Year.


	2. chapter 1 : apocalypse

So I'm currently on holiday with no Internet nor even just a computer (seeing as my laptop shares Kiyotaka's infuriating sense of mean humor and decided to die the day before I left) but I thought of all my desperate readers and decided I simply could not leave them hanging, begging, crying, etc.  
_(coughs)_  
Actually it's just that I'll be very busy and Internet-missing again after the holidays and, even though I'm a bit stressed and on edge because my comatose laptop has the only copies of the latest versions of the next chapters on it, I love this baby too much not to update it in a whole month. So you're getting this out of pure selfishness on my part. Hope this doesn't stop you from enjoying your read. :)

Before you start, though, you should note that I've long decided that Kousuke should always get horribly and unfairly abused and this site should have a "disturbing" category alongside with "romance", "angst" and all. God knows it would be useful.

And now, have fun ! Don't let the random title fool you, this is only the beginning.

Mwa ha ha.

* * *

Asazuki Kousuke was born in Eden on the 21st of July, 2070, of 'newcomers' parents — meaning the Asazuki couple were not among the first wave on Eden pioneers, but moved in to the city later. His family had lived in district 18 for as long as he can remember.

He was eleven the year an experiment rat, on which a virus vaccine was tested, escaped from a lab in neighbouring district 19. He remembers the announcement on TV that this particular rat, instead of dying from the virus like most others, had seemed to get stronger and smarter ; he remembers how his mom freaked out and how his dad laughed and said it was nothing.

Over the next few weeks, the virus mutated and started affecting humans. Then it spread.

The contagion occurred by any possible way - sexual encounter, blood transfer, saliva, cough, even, it seemed, simple physical contact. It had the peculiar effect of destroying any organ it affected — and most times, it spread to most of the body and reached vital organs quite quickly — by cutting it down to pieces ; not by eating it, nor by corroding it. Cutting. You woke up one morning spitting up your own blood and bits of your insides. Because of that (and the impossible pronunciation of its actual scientific name), it got vastly known as the Blade virus.

Kousuke had just turned twelve when he caught it.

---

His parents had tried to leave town, of course — then it had been discovered that Kousuke's school had been infected. No treatment had been found yet (no treatment was ever found). Quarantine was declared, with armed guards assigned to keep watch on the district boundaries and strict forbidding for anyone to cross them, one way or another. But the thing was, it had taken everyone a couple weeks to realize how dangerous the illness was. Two weeks, precisely. And during those two weeks, the virus was already there, already getting passed on, already developing without showing any symptom and waiting, patiently, to strike out.

Many other children had caught it alongside Kousuke. Strangely, though, unlike all the other kids, he didn't die.

His parents did.

And in the months following, so did all his classmates, his teachers, and most of his neighbours ; and before dying in turn, younger siblings of his schoolmates had allowed it to spread to a close-by elementary school.

At this time, of course, the democratically-elected government had all schools in Eden closed down, gave money to schools staff and handed out surgical masks and gloves for citizens to wear when going outside.

For district 18, though, it was much too late.

---

Kousuke's district was successfully cut off from the rest of the city as soon as the epidemic started. He doesn't know if people outside are aware that everyone here (except him) is dead by now, but he's sure the virus found a way to spread outside his district anyway. It's a smart thing.

Proof : he didn't die. He caught the damn thing, he's certain of it, he didn't show many symptoms and not quickly, but he's probably the one who passed it on to his parents. Yet he didn't die. Instead, he's realized that he's become more resistant to infection, cold, malnutrition, and everything that comes with living on your own for a twelve-year-old kid ; he's gotten stronger.

So he can pass it on to more victims.

Smart thing.

(Except there isn't anyone around for him to contaminate anymore.)

* * *

So before that terrible summer is over, he's alone in a dead district. He's long figured out how to sneak past the quarantine barriers in the early morning, when the watch shifts and the guards aren't quite awake yet ; but he keeps coming back anyway. No one bothers him, except the animals that have been gradually taking over the neighbourhood, and he doesn't have to pay anything for the food he takes from the supermarkets and restaurant fridges, doesn't owe any rent to anyone for the nice house he's settled in. (His own was bigger, but it was _too_ big and it hurt too much every time he passed his parents' room ; so he moved. He's closer to the old shops and fast-food restaurants now.)

The problem with the houses is that while, of course, they're fully-functioning and deserted, there are often bodies still inside ; not everyone made it to the local hospital, which was full anyway. Kousuke burned his parents' bodies, because better that than leave them to the animals, but he had to stay close to make sure the fire didn't catch to the whole house, and it stank and the smoke made him cry. He doesn't want to do it again. No one died at work, though, or at least no one's body was left there, so the offices, shops and other business buildings are fine.

But the bodies are the only problem, really ; it's easier to take care of yourself when you're _all _alone than among other people. For one, he probably wouldn't be let in the shops, seeing as he keeps forgetting to bathe and change clothes. And well, whether or not you have any money, it's difficult to get anything from a shop if you can't even get in.

So Kousuke finds an empty, clean and rather comfortable house, teaches himself how to cook and takes to constantly letting the TV on just to break the silence. That's how he learns the latest news about the mutating virus.

---

They finally figure out that not everybody who gets it dies. Survivors are rare, but the Blade virus makes them stronger ; they resist to most illnesses along it, and their physical strength, reflexes and senses develop. They are contagious, and the people they contaminate will die from it, but _they_ are immunized. They do not seem to suffer any kind of pain or disability in return. It is possible for one not to even notice it before a long time.

It hasn't been verified, the journalist says, survivors being around pre-adolescence for reasons yet unknown, but it is probably transmissible to progeny.

* * *

A month later, the Hunt begins. That's when they announce its start, anyway, although they obviously don't call it that.

Survivors of the disease, children of the Blade virus, are declared a danger, as they are able to roam the streets free and contaminate everyone, sometimes without even knowing it. Anyone that keeps going on with their usual life while knowing they are contaminated and contagious, is nothing short of criminal. Citizens, especially pre-teens, are encouraged to get health checks ; if they are found positive, they will be taken care of in a special hospital. They will be well treated, fed and occupied, and it will be ensured that they have no way to contaminate anyone until a treatment is finally found.

Officially, that's what is said. Kousuke wonders who will be stupid enough to go give themselves over and get themselves locked away in an asylum. He can't believe it when the next day, a little girl appears on TV (though her face is blurred), interviewed from behind a glass panel, saying she came on her own to "get protection".

And to protect others, she adds ; then, and only then, does Kousuke realize that other "children of the Blade" are probably not in the same situation as he is : _they_ have to chose between their freedom and other people's lives. He doesn't have to worry, everyone in his vicinity is dead already. It's different for this girl.

"I don't want to hurt anyone," she whispers, just before the screen fades to black and switches back to the journalist.

---

About ten days later, he's starting to really think about going to that hospital. He'd be taken care of, there ; his freedom in exchange for warmth, fresh food and company, it just might be worth it. He's starting to feel really lonely, after all. He misses his parents.

His brooding is suddenly interrupted by a loud crash and a weird sound, which he needs a few seconds to recognize as a scream. He isn't much used to hearing human voices not coming out of loudspeakers anymore. He springs up and runs to the window, and stops dead at what he sees.

Then he rushes downstairs, jumping down four steps at a time, and only stops for a second to grab a kitchen knife on the way.

The girl outside screams again and he runs.

---

She is lying on the dirty pavement, her skirt riding up her thighs and her shirt torn and stained red at the shoulder. A man has a foot pushing on her stomach, holding her down while he's loading new bullets in his gun.

Kousuke's fingers clench on the handle of the knife and he's long stopped thinking.

---

Of the next few minutes, all he will ever remember is screaming. He won't ever be able to remember who did, though : the girl, the man, or himself.

---

He steps aside afterwards, has to lean against a wall in order to keep himself up because his legs are threatening to give way. His fingers are smearing red on the concrete wall. He bends over and throws up.

When he finally looks up, the girl stares back.

It is Takamachi Ryouko. She was in his class at school. She was violent and not cute and she used to fight him all the time when he tried to protect her from the bullies. He liked her a lot, even though he hid it well.

He'd thought she'd died like everyone else.

Her eyes are wide, her irises circled with white and her pupils contracted to narrow slits. Her hand is shaking as it wipes the blood splattered on her face, and her voice is no better.

"Kou-Kousuke ?" she whispers, low and hesitant and scared, and Kousuke can't blame her for not being able to say anything more.

"Yeah," is all he can answer. He looks at his hands, literally covered in blood, and throws up a bit more. He is twelve and he has just killed a man.

---

"Child of the Blade ?" he asks her when he finally finds the strength to talk, because that's the most obvious reason a girl this age would be wandering this neighbourhood.

She cringes, her face contorting in a painful wince and her shoulders tensing up, like she thinks he's going to hurt her, even though what he's just done has saved her life.

"N-no," she blurts out unconvincingly.

He snorts. "Right. 'Ts okay, me too. C'mon." He grabs her hand, the one of the uninjured arm, and she looks shocked as he helps her up. "What ?" he mumbles.

She lets out a nervous little laugh. "Ah, nothing. It's just that... people haven't touched me much for a long time." She smiles bitterly and squeezes his hand, and he doesn't manage to fight off the blush completely. "Thank you, Kousuke." Her smile widens just a little bit.

He can't really answer anything, so he just says "Let's go."

She nods and they run off, together.


	3. chapter 2 : life

My laptop lives again ! (insert big sparkly heart here) Although it's on an Internet strike now. It doesn't love me half as much as I still love it :'( I never have any luck in my love life. (Maybe I just have horrible taste... but shh, don't let it hear that, or it's gonna fake-die on me again.)

Anyway this means I did get my files back. (insert another heart here) Now there's another few problems, mainly and namely that I'm going to be taking my final exams in less than a month, then leave on holiday for a long time... and that I'm ridiculously obsessed with my new videogame (_The World Ends With You_) and it's taking up three fourths of the space normally occupied by Spiral in the fandom part of my brain (which is to say, the biggest part of my brain). I should get back to Earth in a few weeks. Probably.

In the meantiiiiime here's a new chapter to prove that I do not ship Kousuke/Ryouko at all. Yupyup.

* * *

He makes her lie down on a sofa when they arrive at his current home. She watches him wordlessly as he fumbles around for bandages, warm water and a washcloth.

She winces as he cleans her wound, but doesn't pull back ; she grits her teeth and endures the stinging pain without a sound. The bullets only grazed her skin, thankfully, Kousuke isn't sure he could take bullets out of her flesh. She simply sighs in relief when he finally takes off the fabric that was stuck to her flesh by the blood — then she silently winces again as he wraps the bandages tight around her arm.

He's always known that she was strong, everybody knew, but he didn't expect her to be quite _that_ strong.

"Thank you," she whispers when it's over.

Kousuke shrugs. "So," he says, flopping down beside her on the couch. "Who was that guy and why was he after you ? I hope I didn't save an evil serial killer."

She bites her lip and looks down. "An agent of the government, I suppose," she answers slowly, her voice low again. "He tried to take me to that hospital for 'children of the Blade', but I didn't want to, so I ran away, and he... he shot me."

Kousuke suddenly feels like his blood just froze inside his veins. "They shoot infected kids who don't want to go ?" he whispers through his dry throat.

She nods, her eyes on her scraped knees. "I know the neighbourhood well, so I tried to lose him, but he managed to keep up and get a few shots at me. I was lucky he shot all his bullets before catching up to me, I guess."

Kousuke tries not to imagine what would have happened if the man hadn't emptied his gun, then realizes that what did happen to the _man_ was probably worse. He feels like throwing up again thinking about it, but he tells himself that an innocent young girl's life is worth more than that of a man who doesn't hesitate to shoot kids.

* * *

He feels sickly again when he goes back to the street to hide the body inside a house, while Ryouko is sleeping. There's no real need for it, but not leaving the corpse to lie in the street makes him feel just a little better about the whole thing. There isn't much to do about the blood and the vomit on the pavement, though, so he counts on the rain and animals to clean away the evidence of what he's done.

He takes the gun, holster and spare bullets with him, just in case. Back 'home', he puts them away under his bed, then has a scalding hot shower and watches the red water pour down the drain.

He hears the cries of feasting wild cats and stray dogs all night.

* * *

It might be paradoxical, but after listening to Ryouko's story, Kousuke's resolve to never go to the 'hospital' only straightens.

* * *

The house only has one bedroom, but thankfully, after much internal debating about whether she wants to move off the couch to get to the bed or stay there because she's lazy, Ryouko decides to spend the night on the couch. The next day, though, she's recovered enough that she's actually trying to cook breakfast by the time Kousuke wakes up ; her left arm is held against her chest by a knotted scarf slung around her neck. Kousuke has to stop her from burning the bacon.

"Hum, Kousuke ?" Ryouko pipes up after breakfast.

She's spread out on the sofa once more, and her too-short skirt is riding up very very high again. Kousuke tries not to look. And tries not to look as though he's looking. Ryouko doesn't seem to notice.

"Can I... stay here ?" she asks, and nibbles at her lip again when he looks up to her face in surprise. "It, ah, it gets... lonely, when you're on your own for too long. I'd like some company." She blushes.

Kousuke manages to sound casual as he answers : "Hu, I guess so, so long as you don't bring trouble".

She smiles, radiant, sunny, and it's his turn to blush.

---

It takes him a few days to realize just what the implications are. It means that there's always someone around, always watching out for him ; it means there's warmth and soft breathing beside him at night, since she doesn't want to sleep on the couch again and neither does he. It means that he isn't alone anymore, but also that he's _never_ alone. Every day, all day, there's a girl complaining that she's cold, or hungry, or scared, or tired, or uncomfortable, or bored, always whining that he is stupid, annoying and mean, that he smells funny, looks awful, can't actually cook either, and hogs the covers.

Still, he doesn't think he'd trade that back for living alone.

He wonders, once, if this is what it's like to have a sister.

---

They manage, somehow. Kousuke finds that life is much easier and nicer with someone, even a someone that complains all day and hits him way too often. As much as her quickly healing arm allows her, Ryouko helps fighting off the animals, trapping them sometimes when they can't find food or when Kousuke's bored, cooking (even though she isn't very good at it), exploring and even robbing the neighbourhood, once she realizes it's not stealing if it doesn't belong to anyone anymore. She stayed in her house for the last month and just ate the preserves and food her family had stocked, she explains. The Hunter found her when she went out for the first time because her supplies were starting to run out. "Good timing, I suppose," she mumbles with a wince.

They quickly move to another house with two bedrooms and a nice heater in every room. To Kousuke's chagrin, Ryouko seems to decide that once you live with someone, you have to start caring about your appearance again, so she looks through the wardrobes and discards her school uniform for jeans and an ample sporty tee-shirt. She looks like a boy like this, he tells her ; she isn't pleased.

They mess around with the various appliances. After they've both burned or melted something in the oven and Kousuke's red sweater has turned Ryouko's white pajamas pink in the washing machine, they learn to test everything on stuff they don't like before putting in their favourites. Ryouko regularly has to threaten to kick Kousuke until he washes himself, too. Most of their food and bottled drinks, they find in restaurants and supermarkets, though they sometimes find nice things in houses they break in. It's a feast every time they find something not outdated, other than rice and frozen food, since of course many products have long since gone bad. But as long as it looks and tastes alright, they don't worry : they've found out not many things can make them sick. They do a lot of experimenting in cooking as well, of course. When they're bored, they go looking inside shops and take anything they like — comfortable clothes, warm covers and plump pillows, frying pans and kitchen accessories, toys and gadgets.

* * *

The pain fits start in the beginning of November, a little after they've moved in another house for the second time. Kousuke doesn't really notice the first time, actually. It just feels like a weird ache in his chest, like he's breathed wrong or strained a muscle. He's running after Ryouko who has stolen one of his shoes when it happens, so he just thinks he has a stich from the unusual effort and doesn't pay much attention to it. The second time, though, is much more noticeable.

His chest just starts hurting like hell, completely out of the blue. It doesn't last very long - a couple of minutes maybe - but it leaves him breathless, sprawled on the floor, clutching the right side of his chest where something just seems to _clench, squeeze, twist_ -

and then, just like that, it stops.

He gasps for breath and shudders. His eyes are moist and his blood is boiling. He slowly gets back up to his feet, his legs shaking and his head spinning, wipes the sweat that's dripping from his forehead into his eyes, licks his dry lips and thinks _I'm sick. It's finally caught up to me. I'm sick._

_---  
_

He is unspeakably relieved that Ryouko wasn't there, that she's out trying to find a new bottle of shampoo because she's run out of it and Kousuke wouldn't go out for _shampoo_. She hasn't seen him.

He doesn't want her to see him suffer from something that will probably, eventually, catch up with her as well. He doesn't want her to know.

That's when he realizes that he wants to protect her, from anything that can hurt her in any way. So he vows to himself ; he swears to protect her from here on (even though he's decided this since the minute he first saw her, years ago, in the school courtyard, kicking and punching, alone against a bunch of bullies). He gives himself the excuse that it's what you do to a sister, protect her, even though by now he's figured out that he doesn't actually want Ryouko to be his sister.

He'll protect her, to any cost ; he will kill again, if needed, and he thinks, if it was the only way, he would probably die for her, too.

* * *

The next day, they find a close-by fast-food restaurant with the biggest kitchen they've ever seen, and after a few tries, they eat not-quite burnt burgers and have a ketchup fight. Life isn't that bad, Kousuke concludes that day.

That night, Ryouko has a nightmare and sneaks in his room at two in the morning, to climb into his bed and snuggle up with him.

Life isn't that bad.


	4. chapter 3 : child

These seem to be getting shorter and shorter, dammit. But I have to cut at some point and it's either a chapter a bit shorter everytime, or twice as long.

Random rambling about my personal life that you can skip without no worries of missing anything important : I'm now an adult and officially out of school. Wow.

I'm going to say this once and for all : the chapter titles are a bit random already but they are also going to get more than a bit ridiculous. Sorry in advance.

Hope you like this chapter. :)

* * *

Fall has gone, winter has come, and stinging wind and wet snow with it. Ryouko's arm has healed completely and they have gotten used to each other (meaning Ryouko still _screams_ when Kousuke inadvertently walks in on her changing and still beats the crap out of him later, but still never locks the door). Kousuke hasn't had another pain fit for a week and is starting to think it was nothing after all. They've moved again, to a small apartment above the restaurant : it's easier to heat up and _keep_ warm, and they don't have to go out in the cold to get food. They probably wouldn't catch a cold anyway, but they just don't like it. Besides, they like moving, breaking up the routine, setting up a new home and finding out they can be home anywhere.

Kousuke waits for the snowfall to stop, then he puts on the nice boots and furry jacket he's found and goes out to find some food. The streets are empty, as always, but they're coated in pure untrodden, unspoiled white, and somehow that changes a lot. And it's a nice change. The city seems simply asleep, instead of just plain dead.

Kousuke freezes when, in the thin blanket of fresh snow on the pavement, he sees footsteps.

Upon closer inspection, he almost instantly notices, with a relieved sigh, that they're much too small to be an adult's — even smaller than his. Still, he follows them silently and carefully.

He's about to turn a corner when there's a loud _'BANG'_ behind him and he almost jumps out of his skin. He turns around, but there's no one, of course there's no one ; just a cloud of eye-stinging grey smoke and the smell of rotten egg. On some strange impulse, he looks up.

A small girl is sticking out her pigtailed head from an upstairs window. She is also sticking out her tongue at him, then she raises her hand and throws down another firecracker, aiming right at his head. He recovers from the shock just enough to jump out of the way.

"What are you doing here ?" the girl shouts.

"I could ask you the same !" Kousuke yells back through the smoke. "Why are you throwing crackers ?!"

The firecracker he recognizes as one of those 'cool' things that used to be so popular among the teenaged boys of his district : little things that produced a stinking smell, stinging smoke, and a sound loud enough to give teachers heart-attacks. He could buy them a few houses down his street, barely more expensive than sweets. They were still the latest trend when his school closed down ; there are probably still some stashed away in his treasure box, under his bed, in his old house.

The girl pouts. "We~ll, I thought you might be troublesome. And since you are, I think I'm gonna find some more..." Her head disappears under the windowsill, and Kousuke hurries inside the house and up the stairs.

She's waiting for him on the first floor, sitting on the windowsill with a sweet smile on her face, a firecracker in each hand and a plastic bag full of them in her lap. He gulps.

"Hi," she says, still smiling widely.

He stares at her before answering, slowly, hesistantly : "... Hi ?"

She's incredibly small and, despite her gray hair, she looks very young ; about eight maybe, ten at most. But here she is, in the middle of a dead neighbourhood, grinning and not looking worried at all. (And throwing crackers at random strangers.) He really has a right to wonder.

"You a Blade kid ?" he thus asks.

Her eyes widen suddenly, pupils narrowing to slits like an angry cat's, and her smile vanishes as she raises both hands above her head.

"Hey, hey, calm down !" Kousuke yells before she can throw the crackers at him. "Me too ! It's fine, I'm not gonna take you anywhere !"

She narrows her eyes, but doesn't move.

"Why are you here ?" he continues in a slow, soothing voice. "I've been alone around here for months, I'd have noticed if you'd been here all this time."

She shrugs and seems to relax a little. Kousuke breathes. "That's because I've just come here once or twice before. I live on the other side of the quarantine borderline."

Kousuke frowns. "What ? And don't you get caught ? Don't they notice a lonely kid ?"

She giggles. "Oh, no, they know me. I've always been wandering the streets alone and I tell them my mom sent me to do the groceries, so they don't wonder." Kousuke stares at her and the edge in her soft smile tells him not to ask about her mother. "What about you ?" she retaliates. "Everybody's dead around here."

"I know," Kousuke mumbles. "But I lived here before, so."

She lets out a soft "oh" and gets up, and stretches like a small cat. She isn't much taller standing than sitting. "Well, Stranger-kun, I'll be going. It was nice to meet you. Bye-bye !" She waves as she trots to the stairs.

"Wait !" Kousuke says before he can think. She throws him a glance over her shoulder. "Won't you... Well, you look like you can manage on your own —"

She rolls her eyes as if to say '_obviously_', but he decides to ignore her.

"— but wouldn't you like some company ?"

She stares.

"We could... y'know," he hesistates on how to phrase that, "... watch out for each other ?"

She keeps staring.

"Or something."

She lets out a sudden giggle, slit eyes glinting with mischief. "Mom always told me not to talk to strangers," she says, wagging her finger, "I don't think she'd have liked me to bring a boy home !"

"I'm Asazuki Kousuke, a Blade child like you," he says. "There's a girl with me, her name's Ryouko. She's the same."

She stops laughing and studies him for a few seconds, a little impish smile still on the corner of her mouth.

"Maybe," she finally answers. "I'm Takeuchi Rio. Show me where you live."

He grins back and shows her the way.

* * *

Ryouko is freaked out of her mind to see him come back home with a grinning little girl (still holding a bag of firecrackers). Rio flightily introduces herself and, while Ryouko demands that Kousuke explain, takes a look around their (current) house.

Kousuke is barely finished when she comes back out of his bedroom and, still grinning, deems the place 'dirty, smelly and uncute' and immediately insist on taking them both back to her apartment, in district 15.

Kousuke is a bit nervous to be back in the streets of a living district, but he hides it as best he can, if only because a dirty kid looking nervous has got to attract suspicion in this part of Eden. (Also, because Ryouko is obviously very nervous and obviously trying her hardest to hide it, too.) To his surprise, though, the trip is remarkably uneventful as there are next to no passersby in the streets ; the only person they pass is one tired-looking woman sitting on a carpet on the pavement, pieces of jewelry with price tags laid out in front of her.

Rio's place is in one of those apartment buildings that are rare in district 18, but seem to be the only kind of habitations in district 15. When she opens the door and goes in, Kousuke almost expects her to ask _'Mooom, can I keep them ?'_ in the cute voice that girls use to whine and that never fails to make adults comply. But there is no mother waiting in Rio's silent apartment.

It's a small place, meant for only two persons, cute and clean and girly-pretty. It's the evening already, so Rio opens a pantry with glittery stickers scattered all over the door, takes out a bright pink and blue bag and cooks them a dinner of weirdly shaped pasta (probably supposed to look like flowers, butterflies and such - girly stuff).

For the night, the girls share the double-bed of the only bedroom. Kousuke settles on the couch and is given a pink pillow, a small frilly cushion and a starry blanket.

The next morning, Rio serves them sugary cereals in pastel pink bowls and Kousuke blurts out that he just _can't_ stay there.

Ryouko punches him for his rudeness and ungratefulness, but Rio laughs and agrees without taking offense. Besides, there isn't enough room for three. Ryouko is hesitant to go back to the dead district, but she eventually chooses to accompany Kousuke, and they leave after breakfast (Rio laughs again and finds some almost-fresh bread for Kousuke in her glittery pantry).

---

"Thanks," Kousuke says quietly on the way. "For staying with me."

"Don't thank me, I just didn't want to impose on a stranger," Ryouko quickly answers without looking at him. "It isn't for you, you moron," she adds and hits him with her now healed arm. It doesn't really hurt, and Kousuke grins.


End file.
